• Some went directly to full-size, powered aircraft, focusing on the engine as the main problem.
• Others used models as their primary research tool.
• Still others believed that testing their ideas with full-size gliders was the most effective approach.

The Wrights' course

By the late 1890s, experimenting with full-size, man-carrying gliders was proving to be the most fruitful avenue. These experimenters believed in a gradual, evolutionary path to flight. Careful study of aerodynamics and control with simple hang gliders, they argued, would lead to a more sophisticated powered airplane capable of sustained, controlled flight. The Wright brothers followed this course.